Lynching, landmark decision revisited in Lafayette College forum

Lafayette College’s Kirby Hall of Civil Right will be the venue for… (KEVIN MINGORA, MORNING…)

January 11, 2013|Bill White

The facts in the 1906 arrest, trial and lynching of Ed Johnson seem almost inconceivable now in a country that has a black man as its president and celebrates a black civil rights leader with a national holiday.

Unfortunately, neither this 19-year-old black man's outrageous railroading nor his violent death was particularly unusual in the early 20th century South. But mostly because of the courage of two black lawyers who pursued justice at great risk to themselves, the case became a landmark in American legal history — and the subject of a Black Heritage Month presentation, co-sponsored by Lafayette College and the Boys and Girls Club of Easton next month at Lafayette's Kirby Hall of Civil Rights.

I don't spend as much time in Easton as I used to when I was bureau chief there, but I haven't lost my admiration for what has been accomplished by Executive Director Dean Young and other leaders at the Boys and Girls Club, now wonderfully renovated as part of the federal Hope VI grant that remade the dreary Delaware Terrace housing project into a modern development.

The Boys and Girls Club has used the occasion of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and Black Heritage Month to encourage children to explore their roots through essay contests, role-playing, art and other educational programs. Last year, as a result of discussions between Young and state Superior Court Judge Jack Panella — an advisory board member and longtime supporter of the club — that commitment expanded into a thought-provoking airing and panel discussion of the filmed play "Thurgood Marshall's Coming!" It was successful enough, Panella told me, that when he heard a presentation by Mark Curriden, co-author of "Contempt of Court: The Turn of the Century Lynching That Launched A Hundred Years of Federalism," he asked him to come to Easton as part of this year's Black Heritage Month program.

Young said the goal in these programs is to create community dialogue about social progress. "For me," he said, "this really has been the brainchild of Jack Panella."

I don't have the space here to do the case justice, but here's a quick summary.

Johnson was falsely accused of raping a white woman in Chattanooga, Tenn. Despite two lynching attempts, wildly inflammatory news articles and a clearly inflamed white populace, the corrupt judge in the case rushed Johnson to trial within nine days and refused requests to move it.

The all-white jury, which included one juror who had to be restrained from assaulting the defendant, convicted Johnson, ignoring the testimony of a dozen men who had seen him working elsewhere that night. The judge scheduled him to be hanged, and he warned Johnson's lawyers that any attempt to appeal the conviction would be fruitless.

Two black lawyers stepped forward and began advocating for Johnson, a move so unpopular that their law office was set on fire, shots fired into one of their homes and their Tennessee law careers ruined. The case eventually made its way to U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan, a Kentuckian, who heard their arguments, accepted the appeal, stayed the execution and declared that Johnson now was in federal custody.

When word got back to Chattanooga, a mob stormed the county jail where Johnson was being held — conveniently left deserted by the sheriff — took him to a county bridge and hung and shot him. Johnson's last words were, "God bless you all. I am innocent."

The Supreme Court, after an investigation determined that the lynching involved a conspiracy between the sheriff, deputies and the lynch mob, responded to this outrageous challenge to its authority by charging them with contempt of the Supreme Court. The sheriff and five others were found guilty in the only criminal trial in the court's history, and they were jailed in Washington, although their sentences were relatively short. Sheriff Joseph Shipp later returned to a hero's welcome in Chattanooga.

The case featured all kinds of legal firsts, including the first time the federal courts intervened in a state criminal action. This in a way was a precursor to the U.S. Supreme Court's later role in enforcing civil rights legislation in unwilling Southern states and eventually helping to bring civil equality to the United States.

"I am particularly excited about this Contempt of Court event," observed John McKnight, Lafayette's dean of Intercultural Development, "because attendees will have an opportunity to learn about a fascinating historical case that maintains significance in contemporary times. As a society, we still have questions about the role of the federal government in state matters, and of course, there are still important conversations to have about race and racism in American society."

The doors of the Kirby Hall of Civil Rights will open at 5 p.m. Feb. 5. Curriden's presentation will begin at 5:30, followed by a panel discussion with audience participation, moderated by Channel 69's Jaciel Cordoba. Refreshments will be served before and after. Tickets are $5.